Plans: Former ATL Humane Society to make way for 3-building complex

Should a fresh development proposal come together as planned, the metamorphosis of Atlanta’s Howell Mill Road corridor will continue in a major way in coming years. 

According to recent permit filings made with Atlanta’s Department of City Planning, a three-tower project with multiple uses including lodging is brewing to replace the former Atlanta Humane Society complex at 981 Howell Mill Road. 

The property’s allowed uses would have to be tweaked first, according to those filings. 

The vacant buildings in question stand on the northeast of corner of Howell Mill Road’s intersection with 10th Street in the Marietta Street Artery neighborhood. That section of West Midtown has been transformed with dense development over the past several years, most notably by the growing Star Metals District. 

The latest proposal would add nearly 700 more residences to the mix, in addition to other buildings, per paperwork filed with the city.

ANiMAL, a real estate investment firm and Star Metals District joint venture partner, is involved with the 981 Howell Mill Road proposal. This month we’ve reached out to that firm for comment and will add any additional context to this story that comes. 

According to a Special Use Permit application, the property was rezoned MRC-3 in 2020 to allow for a mix of commercial and residential uses. 

Developers are seeking to add hotel uses as a permitted option on the property “based on changing market conditions,” per the application. 

Two types of hotel uses are planned. 

The first—a traditional limited-service hotel, identified as Building 3 in the application—would have 200 rooms. Plans indicate it would have the smallest footprint of the lot. 

The second hotel component would see a 130-unit building with fully furnished living options that would lease at daily rates, similar to new flex-living projects that have taken shape at nearby Star Metals and at Ponce City Market. 

A third Class A component of the project would see 697 multifamily rentals, per filings. 

Elsewhere, more than 54,000 square feet of commercial space would be placed at street level for restaurants and retail. 

Parking for all components would be shared in new deck with entries on 10th Street and Watkins Street (the latter being the eastern edge of the property), according to the SAP application. 

Designs also call for “activated pedestrian-oriented areas” throughout the site to help mesh sidewalk-level retail with the larger structures, according to filings. 

Plans indicate a Sherwin-Williams paint store next to the former Humane Society building on 10th Street would remain in place. 

Earlier this month, the mixed-use proposal was submitted to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for consideration as a Development of Regional Impact, given its scope. That state agency has since determined the project merits review by the Atlanta Regional Commission. 

According to the DRI filing, the outlook calls for finishing the three-building project in 2030.  

Back in 2017, Atlanta Humane Society announced it was exploring the sale of its Howell Mill Road facility. In the spring of 2020, Drapac Capital Partners—a development firm back by Australian funding—closed on the two-building property for $11 million, CoStar reported. [CORRECTION: 5:43 p.m., Jan. 29: ANiMAL officials clarify that their company purchased the site, and not Drapac, and that no zoning changes will be required for development.]

Atlanta Humane Society has since opened a gleaming new facility on Perry Boulevard in northwest Atlanta, near Westside Park.

The current Howell Mill Road facility was built in 1961 and spans about 22,500 square feet, with 56 parking spaces, per its brokers. 

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